Some Unwanted Advice for Your Wednesday

How I Avoid a Cold

or, Some Unwanted Advice for Your Wednesday

I don't know if this is remotely useful or needed, but I tend to feel a little under the weather with every change of the seasons*. And in high school and college I used to get royally and utterly fuck-all sick about 4x a year. But, in the past few years, I've managed to seriously reduce that number and feel all around better with a few time-tested techniques I've picked up from all over- my grandmother, my mother, magazines in doctors offices etc. So, without further ado, this is my routine whenever I feel a cold coming on:

1) Neti Pot.

It's weird and a little gross, but it's the only thing that makes me feel better when I have a cold and there's some evidence that it actually prevents colds as well.

2) Gargle with hot saltwater. 

Working on the same flushing out principle as the Neti Pot this is a great way to soothe a throat and also flush out any germs you may have been exposed to.

3) Hot kombucha green tea with honey.

Kombucha tea when cold is hard for me to drink in large quantities, but I love it hot with honey. Also, hot liquids aren't just from old wives' tales: they really help.

4) Emergen-C made with orange juice and a dash of echinacea.

I know there are dozens of articles out there proving that neither echinacea nor Emergen-C do a thing to prevent a cold, but I figure the vitamins and minerals can't hurt, and it tastes really good with orange juice.

5) A good night's sleep.

This is the hardest for me to do, and the most important. Lack of sleep over long periods of time is the surest way for me to get myself sick so when I start to feel a tickle I try to rack it in, at least a little.

How do you avoid getting sick?

UPDATE: I hear oysters are good, too.

*Or, as The Boy puts it: "oh, it's spring- achoo! Oh, it's summer- achoo!"